What's hot and what's not (corals)

[ninjamyst]

It's 2021. What are the trending type of corals and what are some corals where the hype died down compared to 2-5 years ago

in my opinion...
Hot:
- gonipora
- torch / hammer / frogspawn
- acan
- blasto

Not
- chalice
- favia
- lepto / cynastrea

No change
- acros
- zoas

I remember when chalice was the hottest thing 4-5 years ago. Now, not so much. Blastos and goniporas used to be cheap. Now they are crazy expensive. Can't believe goni are now as much as designer acros.

 

[dwair]

It's 2021. What are the trending type of corals and what are some corals where the hype died down compared to 2-5 years ago

in my opinion...
Hot:
- gonipora
- torch / hammer / frogspawn
- acan
- blasto

Not
- chalice
- favia
- lepto / cynastrea

No change
- acros
- zoas

I remember when chalice was the hottest thing 4-5 years ago. Now, not so much. Blastos and goniporas used to be cheap. Now they are crazy expensive. Can't believe goni are now as much as designer acros.

I would say euphillya was hot even 2 years ago. Torches have been constant for the past few years, crazy prices, in fact I'd say some of the ones I used to see have gone down alot in price.

 

[ZoWhat]

Chalice.... o.m.g.

....soooo like 2017

 

[burningmime]

The only ones whose price I can't understand are acantho, scolys, trachys, weslos, cynarina, etc*. Those ones that can essentially only be taken from the ocean. They've actually come down in price despite the current coral boom, and you can get some really nice pieces for relatively cheap.

My guess is because they're so hard to frag, they're not seen as an investment the same way a high-end torch is. People will spend $500+ on a gold torch or new bounce mushroom morph because they think someday they can sell frags, while spending that much on a master scoly or acantho is harder to swallow, because you won't see an ROI without selling the whole colony*.

Personally, though, I'm all over those big slabs of meat. They're full of personality/movement (inverting themselves), tons of crazy colors, and as soon as there's another export ban (eg Australia) will skyrocket in price. If my tank were a bit more mature/stable and I had a bit more money, I'd go wild and grab every reasonably-priced scoly or acantho I can get my hands on.

* Elegance also sort of fits in here, although it's easier to frag
** I know you *can* frag them but it takes years to grow back into a circle and survival rates for frags are low

 

[mermaid_life]

When I first started, frogspawn and hammers were like clown fish. Everyone just had them and it was a staple in the tank. I just can't get over the prices now.

 

[Waynerock]

Goni’s are definitely heating up, Glad about that they are my fave I would love to see more branching goni/Alve varieties like back in the day. Can’t believe Bounce are still going strong. Let’s give it up for the marathon man! I just kinda got the bug, never liked them and now I’d give a finger for an OG shroom. Hot but kinda going down same with the standard JB’s but they seem to be fading quicker. The new bounce strains they keep bringing to market is keeping it exciting. Definitely seeing chalices cool off. Raja used to be 100’s now they are 25 for a couple eyes and the 1000 dollar jelly bean and crayola are low. Thought acan’s were getting a resurgence but that looks not to be the case. Blasto’s seem to be holding but places like Unique corals have crazy color variations for 70-80 bucks when that would of been 2-3 hundred a couple years ago. Zoa seem to be getting hot again I see Utters and bowsers getting close to 100 for a couple polyps and even Nirvana’s for 40-60 bucks when they were super cheep last year. Hornets which are usually consistent in price have climbed again. The cheep O’s are going up and Kraks are going down. Seems more and more people are successful with the higher end acros like HR and WD and they are getting “affordable” that’s a great thing they are living more!! We are getting better at this!! Scoly and the like will always be high and hot because they cant be fragged and very delicate and will always be slightly more rare. Especially the big show size ones. You don’t see many “dinner plate” sized ones for sale. It seems plate corals have completely cooled off lately (weird cause so pretty). Yellow tip elegance are on fire right now too. The prices of yellow and pink tips have skyrocketed in the last year, year and a half. This is what I get looking at the online shops anyway. I don’t have a LFS to compare

 

[ninjamyst]

I would say euphillya was hot even 2 years ago. Torches have been constant for the past few years, crazy prices, in fact I'd say some of the ones I used to see have gone down alot in price.

The indo ban skyrocket price for them and it has only gotten worse. Now even green frogspawn and hammer cost $50+ a head when they used to be $15-$20 a head.

 

[ninjamyst]

Goni’s are definitely heating up, Glad about that they are my fave I would love to see more branching goni/Alve varieties like back in the day. Can’t believe Bounce are still going strong. Let’s give it up for the marathon man! I just kinda got the bug, never liked them and now I’d give a finger for an OG shroom. Hot but kinda going down same with the standard JB’s but they seem to be fading quicker. The new bounce strains they keep bringing to market is keeping it exciting. Definitely seeing chalices cool off. Raja used to be 100’s now they are 25 for a couple eyes and the 1000 dollar jelly bean and crayola are low. Thought acan’s were getting a resurgence but that looks not to be the case. Blasto’s seem to be holding but places like Unique corals have crazy color variations for 70-80 bucks when that would of been 2-3 hundred a couple years ago. Zoa seem to be getting hot again I see Utters and bowsers getting close to 100 for a couple polyps and even Nirvana’s for 40-60 bucks when they were super cheep last year. Hornets which are usually consistent in price have climbed again. The cheep O’s are going up and Kraks are going down. Seems more and more people are successful with the higher end acros like HR and WD and they are getting “affordable” that’s a great thing they are living more!! We are getting better at this!! Scoly and the like will always be high and hot because they cant be fragged and very delicate and will always be slightly more rare. Especially the big show size ones. You don’t see many “dinner plate” sized ones for sale. It seems plate corals have completely cooled off lately (weird cause so pretty). Yellow tip elegance are on fire right now too. The prices of yellow and pink tips have skyrocketed in the last year, year and a half. This is what I get looking at the online shops anyway. I don’t have a LFS to compare

Acans seem to be surging in prices though. Before it was rainbows that cost a lot but now vendors are giving fancy names to regular acans and jacking up the price.